


Forbidden Fruit

by PennySmith978



Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, I just miss my boys, It makes him happy, Jeremy likes to make jokes, Let him do it, Light Angst, M/M, Out of Character, Simon confronts Jeremy for once, episode 7 of the understudies, post episode 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 18:39:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17924195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennySmith978/pseuds/PennySmith978
Summary: Set during the Understudies episode 7.Jeremy just wanted to cheer himself up by making people laugh, he just didn't expect to make him laugh.That was terrible and so vague it's good I promise (At least I think so)





	Forbidden Fruit

**Author's Note:**

> The summary sucked but I missed my boys and got inspired by episode 7 of The Understudies. I hope you enjoy because I really love this!

“So is anyone else concerned that Robbie’s face takes up two-thirds of the show T-shirt?”

“He’s the most recognizable kid in school. They’re trying to sell tickets, move some merch.”

“Yeah, but he gave Mr. Mazzu a smackdown and stormed off stage. Do we even know if he’s coming back?”

“Well… why don’t we have a backup? Photo shoot!”

“Who can give me their best Melci and Wendla?” 

 

And that’s how the madness in the greenroom started. They began to pair off into partners with Lexi manning the camera trying to give off their “Best Melci and Wendla”. Jolene and Francis went first but they only got one photo before they started cracking up. Jeremy and Cheryl were up next.

If you didn’t know, Jeremy Travers is a jokester. He just loves to make people laugh. It cheers him up to know that he can make other people happy and he hasn’t been in the best mood. See, he has had a thing for Simon Saunders since freshman year and he thought Simon might’ve felt the same. He was wrong apparently… and apparently Simon was having sex with Annabelle (who surprisingly wasn’t in the greenroom). After all of this, he told Simon to not touch him in their scene because it was too much for him and in his mind “ruined the show”. So he needs some cheering up, and what better way then making his closest friends laugh. 

“Remember, This is forbidden fruit.” Lexi had said this trying to expel more emotion from the current “Melci and Wendla” but this only made everyone laugh. Jeremy took his bait, he pulled on his funniest voice and made his joke.

“Forbidden fruit….. Apples, Oranges, Tangerines.” he admitted that it wasn’t that funny, but everyone laughed at tangerines so he called it a win. Everyone laughed… including one extra voice that was listening in from outside the greenroom. No one had heard it. 

His joking continued as he photobombed Violet and Michaels photos with a pirate hat and a funny “surprise”. Not many people laughed at that one… but whoever was outside the room did. 

Everyone shot their head towards the doors but they saw and heard nothing. Either the person ran away or they were really good at hiding. Either way, Jeremy had to get to the bottom of this. He grabbed the prop gun that Michael uses in the show and walked towards the door. 

“Who’s out there? Show yourself! I have a weapon and I totally know how to use it!” He heard another laugh and then he saw him.

“Don’t shoot please.” Stood there with his arms up in the way that says I surrender or please have mercy was Simon Saunders. 

Jeremy dropped the fake gun and just stared at him, his mood just dropped back to where it was before the photo shoot. Simon had a smug little smirk across his face as he looked back at Jeremy. 

“What the hell Simon!?” Jeremy said as he walked toward the back of the green room. He heard everyone gasp silently… not knowing what was going on. 

“Wait, I wanted to talk to you. Please we need to talk… Jer.” Simon said moving closer to Jeremy and grabbing his wrist. Jeremy looked up at him, his eyes full of sadness and slight anger. He was happy and now Simon was just going to beat it into his head that he doesn’t like him for the thousandth time. He ripped his hand out of Simons.

“Don’t touch me and don’t call me Jer, y-...you don’t have that right!” Jeremy didn’t mean to sound upset… he wanted to sound angry and even slightly scary. His voice caught in his throat though because he wanted to give Simon that right, he really did. 

He could feel the tension in the room, all his friends stood by the door not knowing if they should stay or leave. Jolene and Lexi were whispering, probably trying to figure out what to do. Jeremy didn’t know what he wanted them to do maybe they would tell Simon to leave or maybe they’d leave. 

“Please Jeremy, Just hear me out.” Simon said this one more time, pleading with Jeremy to just listen to what he has to say. Simon turned to the rest of the people in the room and silently pleaded with them. They seemed to understand Simon as they all grabbed their stuff and left the room. 

“Fine Simon, I’ll listen but it better be good.” They both went and sat at opposite sides of the couch. Simon faced Jeremy but the other faced completely forward.

“I’m sorry, for lying… about so many things”

“What?” Jeremy was shocked to say the least… this is not what he expected from Simon. He expected for him to just try to make up and just be friends. It would fix the scene.

“I said I’m sorry for lying” Simon giggled knowing that it wasn’t what Jeremy meant but when he saw the other boys eyes he stopped. “I’m sorry for lying about sleeping with Annabelle, I only tried to sleep with her.” 

“But Annabelle said you guys had. At least that’s what Jolene said.” Now it was Simon's turn to be shocked. He almost had sex with her on friday but he left and hasn’t seen Annabelle since. 

“No.. no no no… I tried, yes. But I couldn’t go through with it because all I could think of is you.” 

“Why the hell were you thinking about me while you were about to have sex Simon?” 

“Because I lied about not having feelings for you.” Jeremy turned to face him fully and Simon scooted close. “I kept trying to prove that I was straight because my family is.. Super religious.” 

“Simon I didn’t know. I’m sorry I Kis-” Simon scooted closer and interrupted him.

“I wasn’t done. My father would probably rather have me dead than gay. But when you kissed me, all my fears went away and for once I felt safe. So I kissed back… and everything about it was amazing, but then reality hit and I pushed you away. I tried to pull myself closer to Annabelle, I thought that if I could be with her that you would disappear. Obviously it didn’t work...I- I saw you giving your number to someone in the hall and I got so jealous and I just realized how much you mean to me. However, you I thought that it wasn’t right to care for you so I wanted to take the next step with Annabelle. I was on top of her and all I could think of was our talk. You were so sad and I was such an asshole. I think about how much I don’t deserve you because I’m such a mess. I’ve treated you terribly and I don’t deserve your forgiveness...” Jeremy scooted the final distance and held Simons hands. 

“Simon I like you, I like you so much that I would do almost anything to be with you. I accept your apology” 

They stared at each other. They were so close that they could feel each other's breath. Simon closed the gap. It was a much different kiss from the one in the parking lot. Jeremy didn’t initiate this one and there was no fear. Only longing. Jeremy cupped Simons cheek pulling him as close as possible. Simon managed to tangle his hand into Jeremy’s hair (Which he has always wanted to do) and Jeremy let out a slight moan making Simon smile against his lips. Jeremy pulled away slightly because it all felt too real. Simon chased him but Jeremy put a hand against his chest stopping him. He needed to know that this wouldn’t all end tomorrow. He needed to know that he could feel safe feeling this way. He needed to know that this was real. 

“I need you to be honest with me Simon. We aren’t gonna ignore each other after this are we? You aren’t gonna get your fix and then go back to being hetero Simon?” 

“Jeremy, I came here to tell you that I want to be with you. However, we can’t be the way you want us to be. We can’t go out to eat at nice restaurants and act like a couple, we can’t go out to get ice cream and hold each others hands. At least not until I manage to come out to my father. Which probably won’t happen until I move out” 

“I’m okay with that as long as I’m with you. Simon Saunders… Will you be my boyfriend?” Simon didn’t answer he just jumped on top of Jeremy and kissed him once more. Jeremy managed to flip them over so that Simon was on the bottom because let’s be real here. They continued for a few minutes until Jeremy pulled away and placed his forehead against Simon’s. Simon looked up at him but then began to laugh. “What?” Jeremy looked at him confused. He sat up to try to figure out if this was some joke, and someone would walk out with a camera. 

“Tangerine.” Jeremy was still confused but slightly relieved. Si sat up a little bit “You know, the forbidden fruit..” Jeremy finally got it. The boy (Still straddling the boy underneath him) started to die laughing. 

“You were hiding out there for that long.” 

“I was gonna go in but I saw you on top of Cheryl and I wanted to see how it would play out.” They both laughed at that. An Idea popped into Jeremy's head and he took the opportunity to push Simon down and hover over him. 

“Did you get jealous Saunders?” Heat rose to Simons cheeks as his boyfriend spoke to him. This was a new side of Jeremy that he hadn’t seen yet. His voice was gravely and deep and dare Simon say… sexy. Simon tangled his hands into Jeremy's hair and pulled him down towards his lips but didn’t close the gap. 

“That was so hot, holy shit” and with that Jeremy closed the gap. This was different from their many other kisses. It was so hot and bothered that it made Simon realize that this is what he should’ve felt like in the steel mill with Annabelle or at her house. Which is also why he knew he needed to pull away, he was starting to get too turned on in a public area. “Jer, not here.”

“I like it when you call me hot, and Jer.” 

“Then I plan on calling you those more often than.” 

Jeremy checked his phone to see the Understudies group chat. They were asking if everything was okay and if they needed to (and/or could) come back. Jeremey laughed and responded telling them that nothing could be better and that they could come back.

They all came back and Simon asked if he could stay. He came out to the rest of the group and they all hugged him and were very supportive. Jolene was quite confused because the last thing she heard Simon was having sex with Annabelle. He made it clear that he needed to talk to Annabelle and he settled the rumors of the sex he apparently had. 

The photoshoot continued but Simon and Jeremy didn't participate in the “Best Melci and Wendla” competition. But they did participate in something else.

Even though it wasn’t needed, the boys had a pretty great “Hansi and Ernst” photo.. as backup.


End file.
